Similar to dancers and professional athletes (Hill, 2016), contemporary circus artists may score relatively high on the personality characteristic perfectionism. People who score high on perfectionism tend to set very high standards for themselves, strive to achieve flawlessness, and are critical of their performance (Stoeber, 2011). Perfectionism is generally seen by researchers as a contributor to achieving high levels of performance. After all, if artists don’t set high goals for themselves (such as obtaining high levels of flexibility, learning to juggle six balls, or becoming part of a certain circus show), they are less likely to achieve that goal. In that sense, scoring high on the personality characteristic perfectionism is a good thing.

Link to Full Article by Dr. Fleur Van Rens at Circus Psychology.